LD 

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UC-NRLF 


!! 


SEMI   CENTElS^IAl  CELEBRATION 


i; 


llftiill! 


of  California. 


is 


'  '  v    >F 


R  .     F  R  A  NCI  S      I.  J  K  H  K  R  , 
I'rofcssor  of  Ifi.-tory  a  •.  New  York. 


MICHAEL     REE$E, 

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:''-"-'';..-:•  '          I  .        '       ^    .' 

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* 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  CELEBRATION 


OF    T1IK 


SOUTH-CAROLINA  COLLEGE : 


CONSISTING   ,OF    THE 


iarcalcurcate 


BY    THE 


PKESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE, 


THE 


SEMI-CENTENNIAL  ORATION, 


BY    THE 


HON.     JAS.     L.     PETIGEU, 


AND 


ANSWERS  TO  LETTERS  OF  INVITATION. 

">Ja 


PUBLISHED  BY  ORDER  OF  THE  BOARD  OF  TRUSTEES. 


CHARLESTON,  S.  C.: 

WALKER    &    EVANS,    STATIONERS    AND    PRINTERS, 
1855. 


NOTICE. 


The  Addresses  and  Letters  which  compose  this  pamphlet  were  occasioned  by  the  cele- 
bration of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  organization  of  the  College,  which  took  place 
last  December,  in  conformity  with  the  appointment  of  the  Board  of  Trustees.  The  cele- 
bration was  resolved  on  at  the  Annual  Meeting  of  the  Board,  in  1853.  A  Committee  was 
appointed  to  make  proper  arrangements,  and  the  Hon.  James  L.  Petigru  was  unani- 
mously requested  to  deliver  the  semi-centennial  oration.  The  Committee  of  Arrange- 
ments was  instructed  to  invite  the  Presidents,  Professors,  and  Trustees  of  the  Colleges  in 
this  and  the  contiguous  States,  to  be  present  on  the  occasion,  together  with  such  other 
gentlemen  from  abroad  as  it  might  deem  entitled  to  the  compliment. 

The  fourth  of  December,  being  Commencement  day,  was  fixed  on  as  the  day  of  the  de- 
livery of  the  oration,  and  the  hour,  at  the  close  of  the  usual  Commencement  Exercises. 
The  Board  subsequently  ordered  that  the  Baccalaureate  Address  of  the  President 'of  the 
College,  the  Oration  of  Mr.  Petigru,  and  the  answers  to  letters  of  invitation  should  bo 
published  in  the  present  form. 


OF  TI 

T7SI7E 


DELIYEEED  TO  THE  GRADUATING  CLASS, 

DECEMBER  4TH,  1854, 


BY 


Rev.  James  H.  Thornwell,  D.  D., 


PRESIDENT   OF   THE   COLLEGE. 


GENTLEMEN  r 

You  have  reached  the  period  when  your  Alma  Mater  is 
about  to  dismiss  you  from  her  roof,  not  with  cold,  unfeeling 
severity  ;  not  as  a  burden  of  which  she  would  be  relieved,  a 
tax  from  which  she  would  be  exempt.  She  loves  you  with  a 
mother's  love,  and  yearns  over  you  as  you  go  forth  into  the 
world,  with  all  the  tenderness,  solicitude  and  affection  which 
speak  from  the  eyes  of  a  kind  parent,  as  a  beloved  son  takes 
his  leave,  for  the  last  time,  of  the  paternal  home.  She  sends 
you  out,  because  she  trusts  that  you  are  now  prepared  to  pro- 
vide for  yourselves ;  and  as  she  watches  your  receding  steps, 
her  heart  swells  with  hope,  and  from  her  heaving  breast 
she  pours  out  upon  you  the  benedictions  of  her  soul.  She  can- 
not say  farewell,  until  she  has  given  you  a  few  parting  words 
of  counsel,  brief,  hurried,  broken  ;  but  they  are  the  honest  ex- 
pressions of  love,  confidence  and  hope.  Through  me,  her  or- 
gan and  representative,  she  speaks  to  you  to-day,  and  speaks 
for  the  last  time.  Other  scenes  will  soon  surround  you — other 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDRESS. 

cares  will  soon  oppress  you ;  but  amid  the  din  of  business  and 
the  hot  pursuit  of  your  various  aims,  let  your  mind  occasionally 
revert  to  this  hallowed  spot,  and  let  the  counsels  and  benedic- 
tions which  now  attend  your  departure,  exert  their  influence 
upon  your  future  course.  You  have  begun  well,  and  it  must 
be  pleasant  to  you,  as  it  is  most  delightful  to  me,  to  reflect  that 
in  leaving  the  maternal  mansion  to-day,  no  domestic  feuds  em- 
bitter our  memories,  and  no  hard  thoughts  or  unkind  expres 
sions  rise  before  us  to  solicit  mutual  forgiveness.  The  house 
has  not  been  divided  against  itself.  You  have  been  generous 
and  grateful  sons,  and  have  shown  yourselves  more  than  sen- 
sible of  the  advantages  you  have  enjoyed.  The  past  is  an 
omen  of  the  future,  and  in  the  hope  which  it  inspires,  I,  in  the  ca_ 
pacity  already  intimated,  would  impress  upon  you  the  DESIRE 
OF  EXCELLENCE,  as  the  habitual  rule  of  your  actions.  What- 
ever deserves  to  be  done  at  all,  deserves  to  be  well  done.  By 
excellence,  I  do  not  mean  superiority  over  others  ;  and  by  the 
desire  of  excellence,  I  do  not  mean  that  spirit  of  ambition  which 
simply  aims  to  surpass  a  rival.  Excellence  is  relative  .to  our 
own  capacities  and  powers ;  and  he  who  puts  out  all  his 
strength,  whether  it  be  much  or  little,  is  entitled  to  the  praise 
of  it.  The  giant  is  mightier  than  the  child,  but  relatively  to 
their  strength,  one  may  do  as  much  as  the  other.  That  perfec- 
tion which  your  natures  are  capable  of,  whether  in  general 
habits  or  special  skill,  should  be  constantly  before  you  as  the 
animating  principle  of  exertion.  As  scholars,  aim  at  the  en- 
largement of  your  minds  by  the  culture  of  all  its  faculties ; 
bring  them  out  in  their  just  and  legitimate  proportions  ;  guard 
against  all  distortions  or  derangement.  The  whole  soul  is  the 
thing  to  be  educated.  As  professional  men,  aim  to  master 
your  profession,  in  all  its  departments,  as  far  as  your  energies 
will  allow.  Do  not  think  only  of  the  dowry,  but  seek  first  to 
deserve  it,  and  then,  if  it  does  not  come,  comfort  yourself  with 
the  thought  that  the  race  is  not  always  to  the  swift,  nor  the 
battle  to  the  strong ;  neither  yet  bread  to  the  wise ;  nor  yet 
riches  to  men  of  understanding ;  nor  yet  favour  to  men  of  skill ; 
but  time  and  chance  happeneth  to  them  all.  Like  the  miser, 
though  in  a  very  different  spirit,  and  with  reference  to  a  very 


BACCALAUREATE   ADDKESS. 

different  wealth,  you  can  say:  Populus  me  siMlat,  at  mihi 
plaudo. 

Ipse  domi  •  simul  ac  nummos  contemplor  in  area. 

It  is  only  by  pursuing  a  profession  in  tins  spirit,  that  it  be- 
comes liberal,  or  in  the  language  of  Aristotle,  an  end  to  itself; 
otherwise  it  is  degraded  to  a  trade  ;  and  I  must  say  that  I  have 
much  more  respect  for  the  mechanic,  or  the  drudge  of  a  work- 
shop, than  the  man  who  gives  himself  to  law  or  physic,  or  any 
other  generous  pursuit,  with  no  other  inspiration  than  that  of 
Mammon.  Scorn  this  beggarly  ambition  ;  aim  at  excellence; 
aim  to  be  something,  whether  you  die  rich  or  poor.  Of  course, 
excellence  in  professions  involves  a  faithful  and  conscientious 
discharge  of  all  their  duties,  as  a  part  of  the  merit.  They  all 
imply  practical  habits;  these  are  an  element  of  the  excellence 
of  man,  and  these  can  only  be  acquired  by  single  acts — by  in- 
dustry, perseverance  and  patience. 

Above  all  things,  aim  at  excellence  in  working  out  your 
general  vocation  as  men.  Our  special  callings  are  subsidiary 
to  a  higher,  a  nobler  end  which  attaches  to  us  in  our  essential 
relations  as  members  of  the  human  race.  There  is  a  work 
which  belongs  to  man  as  man  ;  and  in  reference  to  this  work, 
it  is  enjoined,  whatsoever  thy  hand  findeth  to  do,  do  it  with 
thy  might,  as  there  is  no  wisdom,  nor  knowledge,  nor  device 
in  the  grave  whither  we  are  hastening.  Here  we  are  to  pre- 
pare for  an  endless  life ;  for  that  blessed  immortality  which  is 
at  once  the  reward,  and  the  very  consummation  of  all  excel- 
lence. Religion  is  not  a  secondary  matter,  nor  a  local  and 
temporary  interest ;  it  is  preeminently  that  for  which,  man  was 
made,  and  without  which,  it  would  be  far  better  that  he  had 
never  been  born.  Settle  it  in  your  minds,  that  nothing  can 
ever  be  w^ell  done  in  the  true  and  proper  sense,  unless  it  is 
done  in  the  spirit  of  genuine  religion ;  and  no  religion  can 
ever  solve  for  a  sinner  the  problem  of  life,  or  quicken  him  who 
is  dead  in  trespasses  and  sins,  but  the  Gospel  of  Jesus  Christ. 
The  aspect  in  which.  Christianity  should  be  habitually  contem- 
plated by  you,  is  that  of  a  discipline  for  your  everlasting  des- 
tiny. It  first  puts  you  in  the  condition  to  be  trained,  and  then 
supplies  the  means,  motives  and  agency  of  an  effective  educa- 


b  BACCALAUREATE    ADDRESS. 

tion  lor  eternity.  It  is  the  school  which  fits  us  for  the  skies  ; 
and  if  we  see  our  dignity  and  excellence  in  their  true  and  just 
proportions,  in  the  very  spirit  of  Paul,  we  should  count  all 
things  but  loss  for  the  excellency  of  the  knowledge  of  Jesus 
Christ  our  Lord.  I  know,  gentlemen,  that  your  Alma  Mater 
has  taken  especial  pains  that  you  should  never  be  found  among 
profane  scoffers  and  jesters.  You  all  have  a  profound  rever- 
ence for  the  truths,  rites  and  ministers  of  religion ;  but  still 
it  is  possible  to  respect  without  loving — to  admire  without 
a  cordial  sympathy.  It  is  possible  to  escape  the  curse  of 
the  scoffer  without  securing  the  reward  of  the  believer.  Here, 
then,  let  your  energies  be  concentrated.  Give  your  whole 
souls  to  God,  and  you  will  have  the  highest  motive,  and  the 
strongest  encouragement  to  excellence  in  every  thing  else. 

This  general  spirit  which  I  have  been  commending,  will  save 
you  from  what  is  almost  as  prolific  a  source  of  failure  and  dis- 
appointment in  life,  as  absolute  idleness.  I  mean  heartlessness 
of  effort.  Half-work  is  little  better  than  no  work.  Nothing 
can  be  done  well  into  which  a  man  does  not  throw  his  soul. 
Enthusiasm  is  only  the  glow  of  energy. 

You  need  not  be  cautioned  against  confounding  the  admira- 
tion with  the  pursuit  of  excellence.  As  Butler  has  taught 
you,  these  ideal  pictures  may  be  a  source  of  positive  injury,  if 
they  are  permitted  to  stop  at  the  emotions,  or  dwell  only  in  the 
fancy — they  must  enter  the  domain  of  the  will — they  must 
be  joined  with  firm  resolution  and  determined  purpose — they 
must  ripen,  as  you  have  opportunity,  into  acts. 

These  hints,  gentlemen,  are  given  at  parting,  as  a  sort  of 
chart  to  guide  your  future  course.  You  will  find  life  a  very 
different  thing  from  what  you  anticipate.  It  is  not  a  summer's 
dream  nor  a  fairy  tale.  The  period,  too,  at  which  you  step  into 
the  world,  is  a  period  of  fearful  interest.  The  signs  of  the  times 
admonish  us  that  we  are  on  the  eve  of  great  events.  The  earth 
is  heaving  like  an  earthquake — all  things  are  in  commotion. 
The  State  and  society  are  concerned  in  the  character  and  prin- 
ciples of  every  individual  who  is  sent  into  the  arena  of  action- 
Earnest  men  are  needed,  for  earnest  work  is  at  hand.  Go  forth, 
young  champions,  prepared  to  acquit  yourselves  like  men.  Go 


liACCALAUKEATE   ADDKESS.  I) 

forth  to  adorn  your  State,  to  benefit  yonr  country,  to  bless  your 
race.  Go  forth  in  the  panoply  of  truth  and  the  strength  of  the 
Lord,  and  may  the  blessings  of  Israel's  God  go  with  you. 

And  should  any  stranger  this  day  put  the  question,  Who  are 
these  that  this  venerable  mother  is  sending  out  into  the  world  ? 
I  am  proud  to  answer  by  pointing  to  the  men.  There  you  see 
the  pale  student,  and  the  pale  student  of  college  is  always 
likely  to  be  the  hero  of  action.  In  all  you  see  honourable  men, 
men  of  principle  and  character,  whom  the  State  may  cherish 
and  trust.  There  are  no  cowards  there — no  sycophants  or 
parasites.  All,  all,  I  believe  to  be  good  men  and  true,  and  I 
turn  you  over  to  the  commonwealth  in  the  precious  hope  that 
as  no  son  of  South-Carolina  can  ever  be  ashamed  of  her,  so  she 
may  never  be  ashamed  of  you.  !N"ay,  I  know  that  of  some  of 
you,  in  after  days,  she  wrill  be  proud.  Go  on,  gentlemen,  as 
you  have  begun.  Noble  ends  by  noble  means  pursue.  When 
your  last  summons  comes,  let  it  find  you  with  harness  on  your 
backs.  Live  for  excellence,  and  you  shall  reap  the  reward  of 
everlasting  glory.  Farewell. 


OR^TIOIST 

DELIVERED  BY 

HON.  JAMES  L.  PETIGBU. 


When  Alexander  the  Great  complained  of  his  illustrious 
master,  for  having  exposed  philosophy  to  the  knowledge  of 
the  vulgar:  he  uttered  a  sentiment  familiar  to  antiquity,  and 
in  complete  unison  with  the  spirit  of  his  age.  The  principle 
of  exclusion  pervaded  all  early  societies ;  hence  distinctions  of 
caste — of  classes — of  orders  and  sects.  Even  where  superstition 
had  erected  no  bar  against  common  right,  opinion  in  some  de- 
gree, supplied  the  place  of  law ;  and  the  learned  who  considered 
themselves  a  class,  were  little  disposed  to  share  with  the  multi- 
tude the  accomplishments  by  which  they  were  honorably  dis- 
tinguished. Such  was  the  spirit  of  antiquity,  and  such  the  way 
of  thinking  in  the  Middle  Ages.  But  since  the  revival  of  let- 
ters, there  has  been  a  steady  and  progressive  tendency  to  a 
more  liberal  view  of  social  duty.  Society  is  thought  to  owe 
more  to  its  members,  and  individuals  are  taught  their  solidarity 
in  the  duties  which  unite  society.  Government  is  held  respon- 
sible for  the  evils  which  it  has  the  power  to  remove,  but  suffers 
to  exist ;  and  the  duty  of  government  is  the  exponent  of  that 
obligation  by  which  all  the  members  of  society  are  bound  to 
one  another. 

It  is  consoling  to  reflect  on  the  changes  which  have  been 
operated  in  a  long  course  of  years  by  the  influence  of  this 
principle.  The  debtor,  the  lunatic  and  the  criminal  have  felt 
the  benignant  influence  of  the  change.  Misfortune  is  no  longer 


*  ORATION. 

confounded  with  crime  ;  the  barbarous  laws  that  submitted  the 
debtor  to  the  cruelty  of  his  creditor,  after  having  long  excited 
the  abhorrence  of  mankind,  are  by  general  consent,  laid  aside. 
The  sphere  of  charity  is  extended  to  the  inmates  of  the  asylum ; 
and  force  is  restrained  even  against  those  who  are  bereft  of  rea- 
son. ISTor  is  crime  itself  excluded  from  the  pale  of  humanity. 
For  ages  no  voice  was  raised  in  favor  of  the  vanquished  and  the 
weak,  except  in  Schools  or  Churches ;  but  now,  statesmen  have 
learned  to  venerate  Humanity,  and  the  people  to  feel  for  the 
rights  of  their  common  nature.  But  nowhere  is  the  triumph  of 
Humanity  more  signal  than  in  this,  that  the  obligation  of  edu- 
cating the  people  is  now  freely  acknowledged. 

It  was  no  proof  of  narrow  bigotry  then  on  the  part  of  the  mag- 
nanimous Conqueror,  and  Builder  of  cities,  to  consider  philoso- 
phy the  privilege  of  greatness ;  and  ignorance  the  proper  lot  of 
all  who  were  not  raised  by  fortune  above  the  reach  of  sordid 
cares.  Such  was  the  sentiment  of  the  age  in  his  time ;  and  if  a 
more  liberal  and  generous  way  of  thinking  characterizes  the 
opinions  of  rulers  in  the  present  day,  we  are  indebted  for  the 
change  to  the  spirit  of  the  age  in  which  we  live.  But  the  spirit  of 
the  age  itself  depends  no  little  on  the  state  of  education.  Public 
opinion  does  not  represent  the  ideas  of  the  majority  ;  for  the 
majority  is  made  up  of  individuals  who  do  not  think  alike. 
The  diversity  of  private  sentiment  is  endless  and  proverbial ;  but 
public  opinion  is  something  definite  and  intelligible,  not  a  mere 
aggregation  of  inconsistent  things.  It  is  a  motion  produced  by 
the  collision  of  opposing  forces — a  spirit  distilled  from  the  fer- 
mentation of  various  elements  but  differing  from  them  all. 
And  the  spirit  of  the  age  represents  not  the  opinions  of  any 
particular  portion  of  the  civilized  world  ;  but  the  general  ten- 
dency of  the  human  mind  at  a  particular  era.  But  educa- 
tion is  the  external  power  that  gives  activity  to  the  intellect ; 
which  produces  that  fermentation  of  the  mind  out  of  which 
opinion  proceeds.  Therefore,  the  spirit  of  the  age  is  modified 
by  education  and  an  improvement  in  education  is  not  only  a 
positive  gain,  but  an  evidence  of  general  progress— for  as  edu- 
cation improves,  the  spirit  of  the  age  will  partake  of  that  im- 
provement. 


OKATTON. 


13 


But  of  all  social  improvements,  the  greatest  is  the  diffusion  of 
light  —  the  increase  of  the  educated  class.  To  educate  is  to  civil- 
ize —  and  to  add  to  the  number  of  educated  persons,  is  to  advance 
the  boundaries  of  civilization.  To  educate  is  to  develope  the 
faculties  of  the  human  understanding  ;  and  to  extend  the  bles- 
sings of  education,  by  making  it  universal,  is  to  raise  the  people 
in  the  scale  of  being.  Who,  then,  can  doubt  that  it  is  a  duty 
to  educate  the  people,  or  deny  that  the  obligation  which  this 
duty  imposes  is  binding  on  the  high  and  low,  the  governors 
and  the  governed  ?  This  is  Solidarity.  It  is  the  bright  side  of 
Democracy,  and  if  Egotism  and  Envy  could  be  chained  below, 
there  would  be  but  one  opinion  of  it. 

It  was  in  the  year  1801  that  the  initiative  was  taken  in  the  first 
Legislative  Act  for  founding  this  College.  The  period  is  remark- 
able as  coinciding  with  a  transfer  of  civil  power  —  with  a  revolu- 
tion that  changed  the  relations  of  the  parties  which  then  divided 
—perhaps  to  some  small  degree  may  still  divide  the  opinions  of 
men  —  if  not  in  this,  at  least  in  other  States.  It  was  in  a  House 
of  Assembly,  where  the  victorious  party  held  yet  only  a  divided 
rule  ;  and  their  adversaries,  though  vanquished,  still  kept  the 
field;  that  this  great  measure  was  originated.  It  came  like  the 
last  will  and  testament  of  the  expiring  party  ;  and  sounded  like 
the  proclamation  of  the  conquerors,  announcing  the  terms 
granted  in  the  hour  of  victory.  It  is  fortunate  to  find  hostile 
parties  agreeing  in  a  great  principle.  Indeed  it  is  a  proud 
reflection  that  whatever  may  be  the  extravagance  or  madness 
of  party,  opposition  to  learning  is  no  instrument  of  popularity 
in  America. 

But  though  the  spirit  of  our  countrymen  is  too  high  for 
an  alliance  with  ignorance,  there  were  not  wanting  objec- 
tions, both  popular  and  specious,  to  the  endowment  of  this 
College  out  of  the  public  Treasury.  The  immediate  benefits  of 
a  college  are  received  by  those  only  who  are  educated  in  it  : 
the  number  of  these  must  necessarily  be  few  :  and  the  assist- 
ance which  they  derive  from  the  State,  is  a  species  of  Protec- 
tion; rendered  still  more  invidious  by  the  fact,  that  it  is  in  a  great 
measure  confined  to  those  who  are  already  in  a  more  eligible  situ- 
ation than  the  generality.  In  such  circumstances,  the  opportu- 


:  ORATION. 

nity  for  appealing  to  prejudice  was  too  favorable  to  be  neglected. 
The  pittance  wrung  from  the  hard  hand  of  reluctant  poverty,  it 
was  said,  was  to  be  lavished  on  the  education  of  the  rich.  Those 
who  were  in  possession  of  the  advantages  of  education  were  to 
levy  a  tax  on  the  poor,  to  perpetuate  those  advantages  by  edu- 
cating their  sons  at  the  public  expense.  The  majority  were  to 
bear  their  full  proportion  of  the  burthen,  but  the  recompense 
was  most  unequally  distributed.  And  these  topics  might  be 
urged  with  more  show  of  reason,  because  there  was  then  no 
provision  for  common  education  by  means  of  Free  Schools.  It 
was  hard,  that  the  rich  should  be  assisted  by  the  public  treasury 
in  giving  their  sons  an  education  suitable  to  their  situation  in 
life ;  while  the  children  of  the  poor  were  taught  at  their  own 
expense.  It  was  strange,  that  the  State  should  come  to  the  aid 
of  the  rich;  and  leave  the  poor  unassisted  to  struggle  with  their 
difficulties.  With  that  class  of  politicians  who  think  that  the 
public  welfare  is  best  promoted  by  leaving  every  man  to  take 
care  of  himself;  and  with  all  those  who  disclaim  a  Solidarity  in 
the  obligation  of  the  State  to  its  members,  these  objections 
might  have  had  great  weight.  Let  us  do  justice  to  the  wisdom 
and  foresight  of  the  men  of  1801,  who  rejected  such  ungene- 
rous counsels. 

It  is  our  grateful  task  to  commemorate  the  virtues  of  our 
Founders — to  celebrate  the  triumph  of  liberal  principles  over 
a  narrow,  egotistic  policy ;  and  to  mingle  our  congratulations 
over  the  50th  anniversary  of  the  day,  when  the  South-Carolina 
College  welcomed  the  first  student,  to  its  hospitable  Halls.  If 
any  doubts  were  entertained  of  the  expediency  of  establishing 
this  seat  of  learning  at  the  public  expense,  they  have  long  since 
disappeared.  !N"o  one  now  doubts  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the 
State  to  make  liberal  provision  for  the  higher  branches  of  Edu- 
cation. Such  provision  must  be  made  by  the  State,  because  such 
establishments  are  too  costly  for  individual  enterprise.  The 
enterprise  of  individuals,  sustained  by  the  prospect  of  commer- 
cial profits,  may  scale  the  mountain  barriers,that  vainly  interpose 
their  heights  to  the  invasion  of  the  Engineer,  and  the  progress  of 
the  Eailroad.  But  the  hills  of  Parnassus  are  proverbially  barren ; 
and  literature  tempts  no  capitalist  with  the  hope  of  dividends. 


OKATION.  15 

Without  the  patronage  of  the  State,  it  would  be  impossible  to 
erect  the  costly  buildings,  to  collect  the  learned  men,  and  supply 
all  the  materials  requisite  for  a  seat  of  learning  adapted  to  a  high 
and  comprehensive  course  of  study.  And  if  it  be  asked,  for 
what  use  such  a  college  is  wanted,  the  answer  is,  that  such  an 
establishment  is  necessary  to  the  progress  of  improvement. 
Curiosity  is  the  spring  of  literary  and  scientific  research.  It  is 
excited  by  the  knowledge  of  what  has  been  discovered — by 
acquaintance  with  the  methods  of  investigation — by  emulation, 
and  the  intercourse  of  kindred  minds.  It  is  in  Colleges  that 
these  causes  are  in  full  operation.  They  stimulate  activity, 
keep  pace  with  the  improvement  of  the  age,  and  furnish  in- 
quiring minds  with  the  means  of  further  progress.  It  is  a  law 
of  our  nature,  that  if  society  be  not  progressive,  it  will  decline. 
Colleges,  therefore,  are  institutions  of  necessity,  and  where  they 
answer  the  purposes  for  which  they  are  founded,  amply  repay 
the  generous  patronage  of  the  public ;  although  they  add  noth- 
ing to  the  stock  of  material  wealth. 

Fifty  years  have  passed — and  we  have  crossed,  for  the  first 
time,  the  threshold  of  the  new  Hall,  where  the  future  anniver- 
saries of  this  College  are  to  be  celebrated.  The  old  chapel  and 
the  early  days  of  this  Institution  will  henceforth  be  invested 
with  a  sort  of  historical  interest.  When  we  survey  the  flowing 
river,  we  are  prompted  by  a  natural  curiosity  to  know  from 
what  distant  springs  it  takes  its  source ;  and  I  revert  from 
this  splendid  Dome  to  the  Incunabula  of  our  College  with 
more  pleasure,  because  it  affords  the  opportunity  of  ren- 
dering the  poor  tribute  of  posthumous  applause,  to  the  memo- 
ry of  its  first  President,  my  revered  master. 

Jonathan  Maxcy  exerted  no  little  influence  on  the  character 
of  the  youth  of  his  day ;  and  his  name  is  never  to  be  mentioned 
by  his  disciples  without  reverence.  He  had  many  eminent 
qualifications  for  his  office.  His  genius  was  aesthetic  ;  persua- 
sion flowed  from  his  lips  ;  and  his  eloquence  diffused  over  every 
subject  the  bright  hues  of  a  warm  imagination.  He  was 
deeply  imbued  with  classical  learning,  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  human  mind  divided  his  heart  with  the  love  of  polite  litera- 
ture. With  profound  piety,  he  was  free  from  the  slightest 


10  OKATION. 

taint  of  bigotry  or  narrowness.  Early  in  life  he  had  entered 
into  the  ministry,  under  sectarian  banners ;  but  though  he 
never  resiled  from  the  creed  which  he  had  adopted — so  Catholic 
was  his  spirit — so  genial  his  soul  to  the  inspirations  of  faith,  hope 
and  charity — that  whether  in  the  chair  or  the  pulpit,  he  never 
seemed  to  us  less  than  an  Apostolic  teacher.  Never  will  the 
charm  of  his  eloquence  be  erased  from  the  memory  on  which 
its  impression  has  once  been  made.  His  elocution  was  equally 
winning  and  peculiar.  He  spoke  in  the  most  deliberate  man- 
ner ;  his  voice  was  clear  and  gentle ;  his  action  composed  and 
quiet ;  yet  no  man  had  such  command  over  the  noisy  sallies  of 
youth.  His  presence  quelled  every  disorder.  The  most  riotous 
offender  shrunk  from  the  reproof  of  that  pale  brow  and  intel- 
lectual eye.  The  reverence  that  attended  him,  stilled  the  pro- 
gress of  disaffection  ;  and  to  him  belonged  the  rare  power — ex- 
ercised in  the  face  of  wondering  Europe  by  Lamartine — of  quel- 
ling by  persuasion,  the  spirit  of  revolt. 

The  Bachelor's  Degree  was  conferred,  for  the  first  time,  in 
1806 — and  then  upon  one  student,  Anderson  Crenshaw,  the 
PROTAGONIST  of  this  school.  He  made  his  solitary  Curriculum, 
without  an  associate,  and  thereby  gave  an  example  of  inde- 
pendence which  accorded  well  with  the  integrity  of  his  mind. 
May  it  ever  be  characteristic  of  our  school,  to  pursue  the  path 
of  honor,  even  if  it  be  solitary  ?  May  the  man  whom  this  Col- 
lege enrols  among  her  sons,  ever  retain  the  firmness  to  stand 
alone,  when  duty  and  conscience  are  on  his  side.  Nor  was  our 
Protagonist  unworthy  of  these  anticipations.  He  was  elevated 
to  the  Chancery  Bench,  in  Alabama  ;  and  when  he  occupied  the 
Judgment  seat,  we  may  be  sure  that  the  balance  of  Justice  was 
never  disturbed  by  a  sinister  influence. 

The  list  of  graduates  rose  the  next  year  to  four ;  and  in  1808, 
a  numerous  class  increased  the  reputation  of  the  College,  more 
by  their  abilities  than  by  their  numbers.  In  that  Constellation 
was  one  bright  star,  which  was  only  shown  to  the  earth,  and  then 
set  prematurely ;  but  which  ought  not  to  be  forgotten,  if  the 
memory  of  virtue  is  entitled  to  live.  When  I  look  on  the  place 
once  familiar  to  his  voice,  Imagination  invests  the  scene  with  the 
presence  qf  George  Davis,  such  as  he  was  in  youth — in  health — 


ORATION.  IT 

the  pride  of  the  Faculty,  the  Monitor  and  Example  of  the  School. 
When  he  was  to  speak,  no  tablets  were  needed  to  record  the 
absent — every  student  was  in  his  place.  It  is  a  traditionary 
opinion,  that  the  Orator  is  the  creature  of  art.  Poeta 
nascitur,  orator  fit.  But  those  who  heard  the  youthful  Da- 
vis, would  go  away  with  a  different  impression.  The  maxim 
indeed  does  not  deserve  assent,  further  than  this,  that  when 
the  Orator  has  to  deal  with  the  actual  affairs  of  life,  he  must,  to 
persuade  and  convince,  be  master  of  all  the  details  of  his  sub- 
ject; often  requiring  great  minuteness  and  variety  of  know 
ledge,  the  fruit  of  sedulous  labor  and  attentive  study  ;  whereas, 
the  poet  addresses  himself  to  those  sentiments  and  emotions 
characteristic  of  our  common  nature,  which  are  revealed  by 
the  faculty  of  consciousness  and  self-examination.  But  Davis 
was  already  an  orator.  Before  he  began  to  speak,  his  audience 
were  rendered  attentive  by  his  noble  countenance ;  in  which  the 
feelings  of  his  soul  were  expressively  portrayed.  In  language 
pure  and  flowing,  equally  free  from  rant  or  meanness,  he 
poured  out  generous  sentiments,  or  pursued  the  line  of  clear 
and  methodical  argument.  To  gifts  so  rare  was  joined  the  ut- 
most sweetness  of  temper ;  and  his  manners  were  as  amiable, 
and  his  conduct  as  free  from  eccentricity,  as  if  he  had  been  a 
stranger  to  the  inspirations  of  genius.  Early  in  his  senior  year, 
he  withdrew  from  College  ;  and  before  the  wheels  of  time  had 
ushered  in  the  day  for  conferring  degrees,  the  news  that  George 
Davis  was  no  more,  fell  like  a  chill  on  the  hearts  of  his  fellow 
students.  They  thought  of  the  legend  of  Cleobis  and  Biton, 
as  embodying  a  sentiment  true  to  the  feelings  of  nature  ;  and 
owned  that  the  grave  of  one  so  bright,  so  blameless  and  so 
young,  must  have  often  suggested  the  thought,  that  it  is  not  to 
the  favorites  of  Heaven  that  long  life  is  granted.  Nearly  fifty 
years  have  passed,  since  the  grave  closed  on  all  that  was  mortal 
of  George  Davis;  and  few  now  remain  that  ever  felt  the  grasp 
of  his  cordial  hand ;  but  many  long  years  may  pass,  before 
tears  will  flow  for  one  so  bountifully  endowed,  or  society  sus- 
tain an  equal  loss. 

In  strong  contrast;  within  the  same  groupe — to  memory's 
view — stands  the  robust  frame  of  Nathaniel   Alcock  Ware. 
8 


18  ORATION. 

His  intellect  was  like1  u  fortress  built  upon  a  rock ;  the 
the  flowers  of  Fancy  grew  not  in  the  shade  of  its  battlements. 
The  pursuits  of  literature  did  not  satisfy  the  cravings  of  a  mind 
like  his,  which  loved  to  grapple  with  subjects  that  required  the 
strength  of  his  Herculean  arm.  His  memory  was  capacious  of 
the  most  multifarious  nomenclature,  and  science  was  congenial 
to  his  taste.  In  college  exercises,  he  uniformly  outran  the 
Professor;  and  when  the  class  was  entering  011  a  new  study,  lie 
was  preparing  to  quit  it,  or  was  already  engaged  in  exploring 
some  more  distant  field.  Nor  was  his  mind  less  discriminating 
than  apprehensive ;  and  the  mass  of  information  with  which 
his  memory  was  stored,  was  readily  reduced  to  order  and 
method  by  the  strength  of  his  judgment.  Neither  did  he  lack 
the  kindlier  affections ;  and  though  he  scorned  the  flowers  of 
Fancy,  his  heart  was  susceptible  to  friendship.  "Whether  from 
the  neglect  of  those  studies  which  are  most  proper  to  secure 
for  one's  sense  a  favorable  reception  "  delectatione  aliqua  alli- 
cere  lectorem"  or  from  indifference  to  popular  arts,  he  did  not 
make  on  the  public  an  impression  in  proportion  to  his  power, 
or  the  judgment  of  his  fellow  students.  And  he  that  would 
have  guided  with  a  steady  hand  the  helm  of  State,  was  con- 
fined with  a  solitary  exception  to  a  private  station.  And  those 
powers  that  would  have  regulated  the  finances  of  an  empire, 
or  organized  the  march  of  Armies,  were  limited  in  their  ope- 
ration to  the  acquisition  and  management  of  a  colossal  fortune. 
Among  those  now  no  more,  but  then  the  pride  of  the  College, 
who  would  fail  to  recognize  the  large  figure  of  Charles  Dewitt, 
radiant  with  youth,  and  sedate  with  reflection.  The  dignity 
of  manhood  marked  his  steps,  and  the  warmth  of  youth  ani- 
mated his  conversation.  By  his  fortune,  placed  above  the  care 
of  money — by  the  elevation  of  his  mind,  above  the  allurements, 
of  idleness  or  dissipation — he  seemed  a  youthful  Sage,  neither 
ascetic  nor  devoted  to  pleasure — cultivating  knowledge  for  its 
own  sake,  and  cherishing  virtue  as  its  own  reward.  In  his  case, 
imagination  could  easily  anticipate  the  work  of  time,  and  con- 
ceive of  the  youth  already  grave  beyond  his  years,  as  sur- 
rounded with  the  honors  of  mature  age  ;  and  then  the  image 


ORATIOK.  19 

would  suggest  the  principal  figure  in  the  glowing  lines  of  the 
Poet: 

"  Ac,  vcluti  niagno  in  populo  quuni  srepe  coorta  est 
Seditio,  sacvitque  animis  ignobile  vulgus  ; 
Jainque  faces  et  saxa  volant ;  furor  arma  ministrat : 
Turn  pietato  gravcm  ac  meritis,  si  forte  virum  quern 
Conspexere,  silent ;  arrectisque  auribus  adstant ; 
Ille  regit  dictis  anhnos,  et  pectora  mulcet : 

But  he  was  not  destined  to  see  that  day,  and  an  early  death 
deprived  the  State  of  one  that  seemed  to  be  born  for  a  part  so 
noble,  and  not  unfrequently  needed. 

Nor  in  this  retrospective  view  would  it  be  possible  to  omit 
the  most  careless  of  students,  the  most  ingenious  of  men, 
Charles  Stephens— absent  minded,  forgetful  of  College  bell 
or  College  exercise,  but  never  at  fault  in  detecting  a  so- 
phism, or  weaving  the  chain  of  argument.  In  after  times, 
when  he  would  rise  in  the  Legislature,  on  some  knotty 
point  of  Parliamentary  or  Constitutional  law,  the  absence 
of  all  ornament  of  speech  or  gesture,  and  of  all  attempts 
at  the  arts  by  which  an  audience  is  flattered,  could  not  pre- 
vent him  from  being  listened  to  with  profound  attention.  No 
man  wielded  a  keener  dialectic.  The  blade  glittered  to  the 
eye,  but  the  weapon  was  held  in  a  harmless  hand.  Had  he  been 
bent  on  cutting  his  way  to  distinction  by  subverting  the  exist- 
ing order  of  things,  the  social  fabric  would  have  had  no  more 
formidable  adversary.  His  Dialectic  would  have  hardly  been 
resisted  by  any  establishment;  because  all  things  mortal  contain 
some  error ;  and  to  the  keen  logician  every  weak  place  fur- 
nishes a  point  of  assault,  and  an  opening  to  the  enemy.  But 
Stephens  was  conservative — the  severity  of  his  logic  w^as  tem- 
pered by  the  mildness  of  his  disposition.  He  lived  in  peace, 
which  he  loved ;  and  died  surrounded  by  affectionate  friends, 
who  admired  his  genius,  but  valued  more  the  qualities  of  his 
heart. 

Nor  should  Waring  be  forgotten,  already  skilled  in  the 
knowledge  of  human  character.  His  observant  spirit  naturally 
led  him  to  the  study  of  medicine,  in  which  he  rose  to  high  and 
merited  distinction  in  Savannah.  Nor  the  noble-minded  D?i- 
Pont,  cf  kindred  race,  but  of  warmer  temperament ;  who  also 


20  ORATION. 

chose  the  path  of  medicine,  but  was  too  soon  removed  to  reap 
the  honors  civil  and  professional,  which  he  was  so  well 
qualified  to  win.  Nor  Miller,  even  then  remarkable  for  the 
talent  which  afterwards  raised  him  to  the  highest  distinctions 
in  the  State.  Nor  Gill,  whose  early  death  deprived  society  of 
all  that  might  be  expected  from  his  hardy  sense  and  constant 
application.  Nor  must  we  forget  the  leaders  of  the  class — 
the  bland  Murphy,  and  the  inflexible  Gregg.  They  were  the 
real  students,  who,  like  true  soldiers,  never  forgot  the  rules  of 
discipline,  but  studied  for  the  first  honors,  and  won  them  gal- 
lantly. 

And  could  I  forget  thee ;  the  soul  of  honor  and  the  joy  of  friend- 
ship, George  Butler — the  most  gallant  of  men,  the  most  genial 
of  spirits !  The  profession  of  arms  well  accorded  with  his  mar- 
tial character  ;  and  though  his  plume  was  not  destined  to  wave 
in  the  battle's  storm,  and  the  fortune  of  war  confined  his  service 
to  a  barren  field ;  yet  no  more  devoted  son  rallied  to  the  flag, 
under  which  he  would  have  been  proud  to  die  for  his  country. 
Nor  does  the  trump  of  Fame  bear  to  the  winds  the  echoes  of 
a  name,  where  the  soldier's  zeal  was  more  gracefully  blended 
with  the  tenderness  of  a  gentle  heart. 

But  the  youth  instinct  with  great  ideas,  the  Scholar,  the  Bard, 
the  Genius  of  the  school,  remains.  How  shall  I  describe  thee, 
William  Harper?  Careless,  simple  and  negligent,  he  lived 
apart,  in  the  world  of  his  own  genius — his  imagination  brought 
all  things  human  and  divine  within  the  scope  of  his  intellec- 
tual vision.  For  him  it  was  equally  easy  to  learn  or  to  pro- 
duce. It  was  not  to  be  expected  that  such  a  mind  could  find 
occupation  in  any  enforced  routine — He  was  no  candidate  for 
the  honors  of  College,  though  he  received  a  distinguished  ap- 
pointment ;  in  fulfilling  which  he  delivered  a  poem,  almost  an 
improvisation,  on  the  death  of  Montgomery. 

It  is  very  common  to  underrate  the  Imagination,  as  an  ele- 
ment of  power.  It  is  imparted  in  a  high  degree  to  but  few,  and 
the  opinion  of  the  majority  proceeds  from  imperfect  and  su- 
perficial knowledge  of  the  subject.  Works  of  the  Imagina- 
tion are  measured  by  the  standard  of  utility,  and  condemned 
by  common  minds  as  frivolous.  The  character  of  Genius  suf- 


ORATION.  21 

fers  in  the  same  way  when  tried  by  the  estimate  of  Prudence. 
Nor  can  it  be  denied  that,  for  common  affairs,  originality  and 
invention  are  of  little  value ;  nor  that  the  finest  parts  must 
yield  the  palm  to  the  intrinsic  value  of  good  sense.  Fancy, 
Imagination,  Memory,  nay — Reason  itself,are  of  little  avail  with- 
out the  presence  and  moderation  of  that  sober  guardian.  But 
the  great  mistake  of  the  common  judgment  is,  to  suppose  that 
between  genius  aud  good  sense  there  is  some  principle  of  op- 
position. The  very  reverse  is  true  ;  good  sense  is  essential  to 
genius,  and  the  example  of  William  Harper  is  a  striking  cor- 
roboration  of  the  truth.  He  was  a  true  poet ;  of  imagination, 
all  compact;  and  if  he  had  given  the  reins  to  his  genius,  would 
certainly  have  devoted  himself  to  the  Lyric  Muse.  But  "  dura 
res  et — novitas" — the  exigencies  of  common  life,  and  the  little 
encouragement  bestowed  on  literature,  determined  otherwise  ; 
and  he  embraced  the  legal  profession.  How  completely  he  re- 
futed the  idea  that  an  imaginative  or  aesthetic  mind  is  ill  adapt- 
ed to  the  severest  legal  studies,  is  known  to  all  South-Carolina. 
His  judgments,  contained  in  Bailey,  Hill  and  the  later  reporters, 
from  1830  to  1847,  are  an  enduring  monument  of  his  judicial 
fame  ;  and  his  defence  of  the  South,  on  the  relations  existing 
between  two  races,  is  so  profound  in  conception,  so  mas- 
terly in  execution,  as  to  cause  a  wide-spread  regret  that  his  pen 
was  not  more  frequently  employed  in  philosophical  investiga- 
tion. 

The  distinguished  men  that  have  proceeded  from  this  place, 
furnish  the  best  evidence  of  the  successful  cultivation  of 
learning  in  this  College.  If  we  were  to  follow  the  stream 
of  time,  we  should  meet  with  many  a  name  to  prompt 
the  eulogy  of  departed  worth ;  but  I  forbear.  Though  the 
ornaments  of  succeeding  years  might  claim  the  tribute  of 
friendship,  or  challenge  the  praise  of  a  more  eloquent  tongue, 
these  contemporary  portraits  are  reflected  in  the  glass  of  me- 
mory, and  later  years  come  not  within  the  field  of  its  vision. 
Rather  is  it  within  the  purpose  of  this  celebration  to  enquire 
how  far  the  results  have  corresponded  with  the  expectations  of 
the  friends  of  the  College,  and  what  hopes  may  be  reasonal 
entertained  of  the  future. 

VN»O> 


22  ORATION. 

As  to  the  past,  there  is  much  ground  for  gratulation  in 
the  effect  which  this  College  has  had  in  harmonising  and  uni- 
ting the  State.  In  1801,  sectional  jealousies  were  sharpened  to 
bitterness,  and  there  was  as  little  unity  of  feeling  between  the 
Upper  and  Low  country,  as  between  any  rival  States  of  the 
Union.  Although  the  suppression  of  such  jealousies  is,  in  part, 
attributable  to  the  removal  of  some  anomalies  in  the  Constitu- 
tion, much  the  largest  share  in  the  same  good  work,  is  due  to 
the  attractive  force  of  a  common  education.  To  the  insensible 
operations  of  the  same  influence,  must  also  be  referred  the  libe- 
ral provision  that  has  been  made  for  general  education  by  the 
establishment  of  free  schools.  And  if  the  benefits  of  such  schools 
have  not  yet  equaled  the  full  measure  of  usefulness  expected  from 
the  system,  the  failure  arises  from  peculiar  circumstances,  and 
affords  no  just  cause  for  discouragement.  Wherever  there  is  a  re- 
sident Proprietary  equal  to  the  duty  of  their  position  these  schools 
have  not  failed  to  answer  the  purpose  of  diffusing  the  elements 
of  learning.  Nor  let  the  limited  education  of  the  poor  be  con- 
temned. It  is  much  more  the  spirit  of  instruction  than  the 
amount  which  is  imparted,  that  interests  the  State.  By  the 
instruction  received  in  the  most  backward  school,  the  learner 
is  put  in  communication  with  a  higher  degree  of  learning.  It 
is  the  natural  order  of  things  to  proceed  by  steps,  and  if  this 
gradation  do  not  exist  in  the  social  fabric,  it  is  a  serious  defect. 
The  influence  of  the  College,  like  the  ambient  air,  should  ex- 
tend on  all  sides — upwards  to  the  regions  of  discovery,  and 
downwards  to  the  smallest  tenement  of  rudimental  instruction. 
In  this  way,  the  blessings  of  civilization  are  extended  by  a 
sound  and  healthy  state  of  public  opinion ;  and  if  we  compare 
the  progress  which  the  State  has  made  since  1804,  we  shall 
have  no  reason  to  withold  our  assent  from  the  conclusion,  that  the 
hopes  with  which  the  College  was  inaugurated,  have  not  been 
disappointed. 

As  to  the  future,  we  trust  that  the  College  will  be  true  to 
its  mission  as  the  nurse  of  an  enlightened  public  opinion.  From 
this  source  should  issue  not  only  the  rays  of  knowledge,  but  the 
light  which  disperses  the  mists  of  prejudice.  Knowledge  is  a 
step  in  the  improvement  of  society,  but  it  is  not  the  only  de- 


OKATION.  23 

sicleratum.  Very  pernicious  errors  may  prevail  in  the  midst 
of  much  intellectual  activity,  and  opinions  long  discarded  by 
cultivated  minds  may  still  exert  a  wide-spread  and  pernicious 
influence.  In  eradicating  such  weeds  from  the  minds  of  the 
young,  the  public  Instructor  has  an  arduous  duty,  in  which 
every  encouragement  is  to  be  given  to  his  efforts.  It  is  in  the 
College  that  the  reformation  of  popular  errors  should  begin. 

Education  is  the  hand-maid  of  civilization,  which  includes 
morals  and  manners  as  well  as  learning.  But  if  opinions  which 
reason  condemns,  find  shelter  in  colleges,"where  shall  we  look 
for  improvement  to  begin  ?  Education  is  valuable  to  society, 
because  it  improves  the  moral  sense  and  developes  the  ener- 
gy of  the  mind.  The  fruit  of  such  culture  should  be  shown  by 
an  exemption  from  popular  error  or  local  prejudice.  "When  the 
College  is  but  the  echo  of  the  popular  voice,  there  is  room  to 
surmise  that  the  culture  has  been  neglected,  or  that  the  Pro- 
fessor has  labored  upon  an  ungrateful  soil.  A  liberal  educa- 
tion implies  a  superiority  to  common  errors ;  and  deep  regret 
must  follow  the  disappointment  of  that  expectation.  But  it  is 
still  more  deplorable  when  the  College  becomes  a  place  of 
refuge  for  exploded  fallacies  ;  among  which  none  can  be  more 
pernicious  than  that  false  sentiment — that  resistance  to  author- 
ity is  an  honorable  impulse.  Now  Fidelity  is  the  very  bond 
of  Honor,  and  lends  its  sanction  to  all  the  demands  of  lawful 
authority.  To  promise,  and  fail  to  perform,  is  always  a  reproach; 
and  if  the  default  be  wilful,  it  entails  the  heavier  penalty  of 
disgrace.  But  lawful  authority  imposes  obligations  of  equal 
weight  with  those  which  are  clothed  with  a  promise.  To  set 
against  such  obligations,  considerations  of  personal  will,  interest, 
or  opinion,  is  characteristic  of  sordid  egotism,  and  inconsistent 
with  the  first  principles  of  Honor.  A  liberal  education  implies 
a  keen  sensibility  to  every  duty  which  Fidelity  enjoins;  and  over 
the  portal  of  every  College  should  be  inscribed  in  letters  of 
gold,  OBEDIENCE  is  HONORABLE. 

And  now,  considering  the  feeble  beginnings  of  1804,  when 
the  course  of  the  Senior  year  would  hardly  be  considered  in 
these  days  a  qualification  for  the  Sophomore — when  the  whole 
array  of  Faculty  consisted  of  three  Professors,  and  the  Philo- 


24  OEATION. 

sophical  apparatus  of  one  telescope — and  comparing  that  state 
of  things  with  the  present  numerous  and  learned  Staff — with 
the  well  stored  Library,  copious  Instrumentality  and  convenient 
Halls  of  the  present  day — it  is  equally  just — to  applaud  the  gen- 
erous policy  of  the  State;  and  to  utter  the  heartfelt  vow — that  the 
hundredth  anniversary  of  this  institution  may  confirm  the  ex- 
ample of  past  usefulness,  and  justify  the  hopes  of  future  pro- 
gress. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


CORRESPONDENCE. 


The  Hon.  Wm.  F.  DeSaussure,  Chairman  of  the  Committee 

of  Arrangements  of  the  Trustees  of  the  South- Carolina  College. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

On  my  return  home  from  the  mountains,  now  some  days  ago,  I  received  your  commu- 
nication of  the  4th  instant,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  of  Arrangements  of  the 
South-Carolina  College,  inviting  the  presence  and  co-operation  of  the  Trustees  of  the 
College  of  Charleston,  to  celebrate  on  the  4th  proximo,  with  becoming  solemnity,  the 
50th  Anniversary  of  your  Institution.  The  Trustees  of  the  College  of  Charleston,  pre- 
viously to  my  return,  had  adjourned  to  meet  yesterday,  the  20th  instant,  and  it  was 
deemed  advisable  to  await  that  day  to  lay  your  letter  before  them.  They  met  according 
to  adjournment,  and,  on  hearing  your  letter,  they  unanimously 

Resolved,  That  this  Board  accept  with  great  pleasure  the  invitation  of  the  Trustees  of 
the  College  of  South-Carolina,  through  the  Chairman  of  their  Committee,  the  Hon.  W. 
F.  DeSaussure,  to  attend  on  Monday,  the  4th  day  of  December  next,  the  celebration  of 
the  50th  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of  the  Institution. 

Resolved,  That  every  member  of  this  Board  be,  and  is  hereby  earnestly  requested  to 
give,  if  it  can  be  made  at  all  convenient,  his  personal  attendance  and  co-operation  on 
this  auspicious  occasion. 

It  is  very  gratifying  to  me  to  be  the  organ  to  lay  these  resolutions  before  you,  my 
dear  sir,  and  through  you,  if  you  please,  before  your  Committee  and  the  Board  of  Trus- 
tees of  the  South-Carolina  College.  Earnestly  do  I  hope  to  have  the  satisfaction  of 
waiting  on  you  on  the  4th  proximo,  and  of  participating  in  the  solemnities  of  the  day. 
The  State  has  just  reason  to  be  proud  of  her  noble  institution.  In  the  distinguished  men 
whom  it  has  reared,  it  has  repaid  her  manifold  for  all  the  support  and  patronage  that 
she  has  given  it.  She  owes  for  it  a  debt  of  immeasurable  gratitude  to  the  men  of  the 
revolution,  and  their  associates,  by  whose  advice  and  wisdom  it  was  founded.  In  it  they 
laid  the  surest  foundation  for  the  maintenance  and  security  of  that  enlightened  and  regu- 
lated freedom  which  is  dearer  than  life  to  every  son  of  South-Carolina. 
I  have  the  honor  to  be, 

With  the  highest  respect,  my  dear  sir, 

Your  obedient  servant,  M  KING, 

Charleston,  Nov.  21,  1854.  President  T.  C.  C. 


28  CORRESPONDENCE. 


BOSTON,  Nov.  18,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  duly  received  your  favor  of  the  4th  instant,  inviting  me,  on  behalf  of  the  Commit- 
tee of  Arrangements  to  attend  the  celebration  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  South-Caro- 
lina College,  on  the  first  Monday  of  December  next. 

I  am  much  obliged  to  the  Committee  for  this  distinguished  act  of  courtesy,  and  I  beg 
to  assure  them,  through  you,  that  nothing  of  the  kind  could  have  been  more  agreeable 
to  me  than  to  have  it  in  my  power  to  accept  this  kind  invitation.  I  am,  unfortunately, 
prevented  from  leaving  home  by  controlling  personal  and  domestic  circumstances.  I 
beg  you  to  be  assured  that  I  deeply  feel  the  extent  of  the  sacrifice  I  am  thus  obliged  to 
make.  It  is  no  small  privation  to  lose  the  pleasure  (though  I  would  fain  hope  not  final- 
ly,) of  a  visit  to  the  only  great  section  of  the  country  of  which  I  have  not  already  seen 
some  part;  and  the  still  greater  pleasure  of  renewing  my  acquaintance  with  many  dis- 
tinguished citizens  of  Carolina,  whom  I  have  known  at  different  periods  of  my  life — some 
from  my  school-boy  days. 

I  should,  indeed,  have  missed  from  their  places  at  home  several  of  the  most  honored 
sons,  I  will  not  say  of  South-Carolina,  but  of  our  common  country,  with  whom,  in  the 
course  of  my  life,  I  have  had  personal  and  friendly  intercourse — Lowndes,  Hayne,  Le- 
gare,  McDuffie,  Poinsett,  Calhoun — men  from  whom  1  have  more  or  less  differed  on  those 
questions  which,  during  the  thirty-five  last  years,  have  divided  North  and  South ;  but  to 
whose  eminent  ability  as  statesmen  I  have  always  done  justice,  and  whose  amiable  and 
attractive  personal  qualities  I  have  been  able  by  experience  to  appreciate. 

It  would  especially  have  delighted  me,  had  I  been  able  to  accept  your  invitation,  to 
see  again  some  of  the  friends  and  associates  of  my  college  days.  I  should  have  met  at 
your  festival,  had  I  been  able  to  attend  it,  several  well-remembered  fellow-students,  your- 
self among  the  number ;  two  respected  and  valued  classmates,  Chancellor  Dunkin  and  Mr. 
John  Rutledge  ;  and  not  a  few  who  were,  at  a  little  later  period,  my  pupils  at  Harvard, 
one  of  whom,  Mr.  R.  W.  Barnwell,  greatly  distinguished  even  then,  has  since  represented 
you  in  both  houses  of  Congress,  and  presided  with  much  credit  over  your  College. 

1  should  also  have  been  able  to  renew  my  acquaintance  with  many  Congressional  asso- 
ciates, whose  intercourse  and  friendship  I  have  enjoyed  at  Washington,  and  among  them, 
my  highly  esteemed  friend,  your  late  President,  Col.  Preston,  to  whose  rare  and  fervid 
eloquence  I  have  often  listened  with  admiration,  unimpaired  by  differences  of  political 
opinion.  In  a  word,  at  a  moment  when  sectional  differences  have  reached  so  painful  and 
alarming  a  height,  I  should  have  derived  heartfelt  pleasure,  retired  as  I  am  from  public 
life,  in  meeting  the  friends  of  literature,  science  and  education  at  the  South,  upon  an 
occasion  of  so  much  interest,  on  common  and  neutral  ground. 

Though  not  able  to  be  with  you  in  person,  I  pray  you  to  accept  the  assurance  of  my 
cordial  sympathy,  with  my  best  wishes  for  an  agreeable  and  successful  celebration.  It 
cannot  fail  to  be  so  with  the  attractions  held  out  by  the  selected  orators  of  the  festival — 
Mr.  Petigru  and  Gov.  Floyd. 

I  remain,  dear  sir,  with  great  regard, 

Your  fellow-studen*  and  friend, 
Hon.  W.  F.  DESAUSSUBE.  EDWARD  EVERETT. 


CORRESPONDENCE.  29 

FREDERICK  CITY,  (Md.)  Nov.  22,  1854. 

W.  F.  DeSaussure,  Esq.,  Chairman,  §-c. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

1  received  the  invitation  with  which  the  Trustees,  through  your  kind  courtesy,  have 
honored  me,  to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  South-Caro- 
J  ina  College,  in  the  pleasing  hope  that  I  should  be  able  to  participate  in  the  solemnities 
of  the  occasion.  But  engagements,  which  will  not  excuse  me,  forbid  the  anticipated 
pleasure. 

I  have  long  wished  to  visit  South-Carolina.  For  the  last  quarter  of  a  century,  she 
has  been  marked  by  the  strongest  individuality  of  all  the  States  in  the  Union;  and  has 
done  more  than  any  other  to  give  efficiency  to  the  great  conservative  function  of  the 
States  in  our  Federal  economy.  The  occasional  self-assertion  of  a  State  is  efficacious  to 
counteract  that  centralization  which  tends  to  extinguish  the  federate  principle,  and 
subordinate  the  States  to  provinces.  I  wonld  be  proud  to  stand  on  the  soil  of  a  State 
thus  distinguished  in  our  Federal  history,  and  feel  that  I  was  still  at  home,  not  merely 
in  the  generous  southern  hospitalities,  but  in  the  unity  of  that  mighty  federative  empire 
which  towers  above  the  States  not  to  overshadow,  but  to  make  them  radiant  with  a  com- 
mon national  glory. 

If  I  should  thus  feel,  at  home,  as  a  guestjand  a  citizen,  how  much  more  should  I  feel 
at  home,  as  a  friend  of  education.  Literature  and  science  are  the  common  heritage  of 
man.  Not  even  the  diversities  of  language  can  long  confine  them  within  national  limits. 
Thought  transmigrates  from  language  to  language,  until  the  sentiment  of  the  Greek  fires 
the  soul  of  the  Anglo-Saxon.  The  unity  of  the  empire  of  science  is  admirably  illustra- 
ted in  that  noble  institution  founded  at  Washington,  "for  the  increase  and  diffusion  of 
knowledge  amongst  men."  An  Englishman,  liberalized  by  scientific  studies,  conceived 
the  idea  of  establishing,  under  the  most  popular  government  in  the  world,  an  institution 
for  eliciting  original  thought  from  universal  man,  and  diffusing  it  as  a  common  blessing 
to  all  nations.  And  a  philosopher,  of  our  own  country  has  organized  an  institution  fully 
adequate  to  the  universal  purpose  of  its  founder.  Thus,  the  enlightened  liberality  of 
Smithson,  and  the  constructive  genius  of  Henry,  have  instaurated  scientific  research  in 
an  organization  so  comprehensive  as  to  embrace  every  inquirer  as  a  co-laborer  in  the 
common  fields  of  science.  And  through  the  influence  of  this  noble  institution,  a  more 
intimate  communion  will  be  established  between  the  colleges  of  the  different  States  ;  and 
science,  with  its  catholic  spirit,  will  lend  its  aid  in  binding  together  that  political  confra- 
ternity which  only  can  ensure  the  full  development  of  the  intellectual,  as  well  as  the 
physical  capabilities  of  each  State,  while  it  gives  to  each  the  majesty  and  might  of  their 
united  energies. 

In  these  broad  national  sentiments  should  the  young  men  of  each  State  be  educated. 
Their  minds  should  be  enlarged  and  liberalized  by  the  contemplation  of  the  grand  ryth- 
mical  movement,  through  our  federative  organization,  of  law  and  order  over  so  vast  a 
territory  deversified  by  geographical,  institutional,  and  ethnical  differences.  The  true 
majesty  of  our  great  confederacy  can  in  this  way  be  estimated,  and  our  young  men  in- 
spired with  a  comprehensive  patriotism. 

As  auxiliary  to  these  broad  sentiments  of  nationality,  education  should  be  so  directed 
as  to  enlarge,  liberalize,  elevate,  and  refine  the  mind  not  only  by  the  study  of  modern 
thought  in  its  diversified  forms,  but  by  the  elegant  culture  of  ancient  literature.  There 
are  peculiarities  in  ancient  thought  for  which  nothing  in  modern  can  compensate.  It 
takes  us  back,  through  the  stillness  of  past  ages,  to  a  life  much  more  poetic  than  the 
modern.  This  has  a  most  benign  influence.  The  Grecian  State,  which  was  most  illus- 
trious in  poetry,  in  art,  in  oratory,  in  history,  in  philosophy,  was  also  most  distinguished 


30  COKEESPONDENCK. 

for  commerce  and  for  war.  The  robustness  of  the  Greek  mind  was  not  enervated  by  its 
high  aesthetic  culture,  much  less  can  the  Anglo-Saxon  with  its  far  greater  practical  ten- 
dencies. The  sweet  mystery  of  the  beautiful  is  thrown  over  creation  as  a  lesson  for  the 
study  of  man.  In  education,  therefore,  the  beautiful  should  receive  its  due  regard.  I 
would  even  so  connect  art  with  the  trades,  as  to  make  the  mechanic  an  artist  without  his 
knowing  it ;  so  that,  like  honest  Peter  Fischer,  he  might  manufacture  brass  candlesticks 
and  chisel  immortal  statues.  The  useful  and  the  beautiful  have  been  united  by  the  Crea- 
tor ;  let  them  not  be  divorced  by  man. 

With  this  outline  of  my  views  of  education,  let  me  present  my  compliments,  through 
you,  to  the  Trustees  of  South-Carolina  College,  in  the  following  sentiment : 

South-Carolina  College:  May  it,  in  its  hundredth  Anniversary,  be  seen  like  a  temple 
of  pure  crystal,  receiving  into  its  halls,  filled  with  a  thousand  students,  all  the  lights  of 
all  the  knowledges  of  the  earth  ;  and  that  citizens  from  sister  States  may  meet  there  to 
celebrate  the  cause  of  education,  carried  thither  by  the  patriotism  which  rejoices  at 
whatever  is  great  in  a  sister  State,  as  a  part  of  its  own  glory. 

With  my  thanks  to  you,  sir,  I  am  your  obliged  servant, 

SAMUEL  TYLER. 


BOSTON,  November  25,  1354. 
MY  DEAR  SIR  : 

I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  your  very  obliging  communication  of  the  4th  inst., 
in  behalf  of  the  Trustees  of  the  South-Carolina  College.  I  have  delayed  answering  it 
until  now,  in  the  hope  that  I  might  find  myself  able  to  avail  myself  of  the  kind  invita- 
tion which  it  contained. 

Few  things  would  give  me  greater  pleasure  than  to  visit  South-Carolina  on  such  nn 
occasion  as  you  propose  to  me.  It  would  afford  me  the  highest  gratification  to  partici- 
pate in  the  celebration  of  the  Fiftieth  Anniversary  of  the  foundation  of  the  College  at 
Columbia.  I  should  esteem  it  a  privilege,  too,  to  renew  my  acquaintance  with  your 
accomplished  President,  Dr.  Thornwell,  whose  letter  to  Gov.  Manning,  on  the  subject  of 
Public  Instruction,  I  have  so  lately  read  with  the  deepest  interest.  Nor  can  I  fail  to 
remember  the  pleasure  I  should  derive  from  meeting,  at  the  scene  of  his  labors  and  hi« 
studies,  my  distinguished  friend,  Professor  Lieber,  wbo  has  just  furnished  so  valuable  a 
contribution  to  the  science  of  "  Civil  Liberty  and  Self-Government." 

The  Republic  .of  Letters  recognizes  neither  state  nor  national  boundaries.  The  cause 
of  education  is  a  common  cause  the  world  over.  But,  in  our  own  country  particularly, 
it  is  a  cause  to  bind  together,  in  perpetual  amity,  all  who  have  an  interest  in  the  present 
success,  or  a  hope  for  the  future  stability,  of  our  free  institutions.  For  myself,  I  cannot 
but  feel  that  whatever  is  done  for  public  instruction,  from  the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific,  is* 
done  for  the  whole  country,  and  I  can  hardly  rejoice  less  in  the  progress  and  prosperity 
of  a  College  at  Columbia  than  if  it  were  at  our  own  Cambridge. 

I  sincerely  regret,  my  dear  sir,  that  I  find  it  impossible  to  be  with  you  on  Monday 
next,  but  I  pray  you  to  present  my  grateful  acknowledgments  to  the  Trustees  for  remem- 
bering me  on  the  occasion. 

I  have  tho  honor  to  be,  with  great  respect. 

Your  obliged  and  obedient  servant, 

ROBERT  C.  WINTHROP. 

Hon.  W.  F.  DESAUSSUBE,  Chairman  Com.  of  Arrangements. 


31  CORRESPONDENCE. 


UNIVERSITY  OP  VIRGINIA,  Nov.  16, 1854. 
DEAR  SIR  : 

Your  letter  of  invitation  to  the  celebration,  on  the  first  Monday  in  December,  of  the 
50th  Anniversary  of  the  founding  of  South-Carolina  College,  addressed  to  Dr.  Harrison, 
late  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  of  this  Institution,  has  been  received. 

It  would  givo  us  great  pleasure  to  be  present  on  so  interesting  an  occasion.  But  we 
are  in  the  midst  of  a  laborious  session,  and  imperative  duties  here  compel  us  to  forego 
that  pleasure. 

Tendering  you  our  grateful  acknowledgements  for  the  honor  of  the  invitation,  with  our 
best  wishes  for  the  continued  prosperity  of  the  institution  you  represent,  we  have  the 
honor  to  be 

With  great  respect,  your  obedient  servant, 

S.  MAUPIN,  Chairman  of  the  Faculty  University  of  Va. 
W.  F.  DESAUSSURE,  Chairman  Com.  of  Arrangements,  &c. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  NORTH-CAROLINA, 

CHAPEL  HILL,  Nov.  28,  1854. 
DEAR  SIB  . 

Your  note  of  the  4th  ult,  inviting  the  Faculty  of  this  Institution  to  co-operate  with 
the  authorities  of  the  South-Carolina  College  in  the  celebration  of  the  50th  anniversary 
of  the  founding  of  the  College,  was  duly  received. 

I  have  delayed  a  reply  until  this  late  period  under  the  hope  that  circumstances  might 
occur  which  would  admit  of  our  being  properly  represented  upon  so  interesting  an  occa- 
sion. We  are  now,  however,  in  :he  midst  of  our  annual  examination,  and  the  term  will 
not  close  until  Friday,  the  1st  December.  It  is  hardly  possible  that  one  or  more  of  our 
number  may  be  able  to  reach  Columbia  by  Monday.  The  health  of  my  family,  I  am 
sorry  to  say,  will  not,  probably,  admit  of  my  making  an  effort  to  do  so.  I  need  scarcely 
intimate,  that  there  is  no  festival  likely  to  occur  in  my  day,  in  any  portion  of  the 
Unionj  from  an  attendance  upon  which  I  could  really  anticipate  greater  pleasure  and 
improvement  than  I  find  myself  compelled  to  forego  in  declining  your  kind  invitation. 

With  assurances  of  my  high  respect  for  yourself,  personally,  and  the  body  of  which 
you  are  the  organ, 

I  remain,  your  obedient  servant,  D.  L.  SWAIN. 

W.  F.  DESAUSSTTRE,  Esq.,  Chairman  Com.  of  Arrangements. 


32  CORRESPONDENCE, 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ALABAMA,  Nov.  16,  1854. 

MY  DEAR  SIB  : 

I  much  regret  that  official  duties  will  peremptorily  forbid  my  attendance  on  the  occa- 
sion of  the  jubilee  of  our  Alma  Mater.  From  peculiar  occurrences,  two  of  our  most  im- 
portant chairs  are  now  vacant,  temporarily,  and  this  devolves  increased  labor  and  respon- 
sibility on  the  residue.  Besides,  we  have  lately  modified  our  organization;  and  this, 
though  slight,  requires  that  I  should  be  present.  I  have  some  hope  that  I  shall  be  able 
to  induce  Prof.  Sam'l.  M.  Stafford  (an  elder  alumnus  than  I)  to  attend.  My  class  was 
that  of  December,  1821. 

That  this  first  general  convocation  of  our  brothers  may  be  happy,  and  fruitful  of  tl.e 
best  influences,  is  the  sincere  wish  of, 

Dear  sir,  yours,  most  respectfully,  B.  MANLY. 

WM.  F.  DESAUSSURE,  ESQ. 


I  m 

••  I  JM 


m 

: 

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